Clouds Hill Active Story
by DancingStar01
Summary: By chance the team comes to an old sanatorium.  In this story, you can choose what happens next
1. Chapter 1

Title: Clouds Hill (Active Story)  
Author: DancingStar  
Pairing: none  
Rating: 12  
Summaries: By chance the team comes to an old sanatorium.  
Notes: I would like to point out that these story with the title "Ghost House" is mine in the original version. That I have upgraded and rewritten it for PSI Factor is no breach of copyright.  
By the way: We finally have now an own category for PSI Factor FanFictions on our German FanFiction- Page. That was the best Christmas Present!

_Hi, everybody! _  
_First I would like to thank everyone who read and like my stories and I also thank you for your positive reviews. Therefore, I had an idea for this story. Although R.L. Stine, one of my favorite authors, had this idea before, I hope you enjoy it: In this story, you can choose what happens next. The story´s chapters wouldn´t make sense, if you read them in succession, but in the first chapter is a guide and you can choose what the characters can do next. For example: "If Peter should climb over the fence, go to Chapter 10, if he prefers going home, go to Chapter 19" Then use the list box in the left bottom corner and jump to the chapter and the story continues.. You can choose after every chapter. _  
_There are multiple endings, but there is only one happy ending. _  
_Have fun and I hope you find the right way and always remember: You can start from the beginning at any time! _  
_Yours, DancingStar_

**Clouds Hill **

- Chapter 1 / Start -

Claire sighed slightly before she asked about the next town on the map.  
"Springhill. Never heard before! ", reported Peter and folded the map on the passenger seat. Actually, they should have arrived long ago at the east coast but once again a hurricane put paid on their plans and their machine couldn´t land at the airport. The pilot had activated an alternate airport, nearly 100 miles in a south-westerly direction and now they had to drive the rest of the way by car. That would not have been a problem normally but on this evening all was against them: because of an overturned truck and road constructions a part of the freeway has been blocked and after 60 miles they would come back on the highway. Until then they had to travel through rural areas.  
Claire shook her head. "Driving Tired?", asked Peter, looking at her.  
"I'm hungry! What do we have here?"  
Lindsay, who sat with Connor in the back seat, rummaged in a cooler. "Not much! Only mineral water and some chocolate! We should take a break in the next village", she said.  
The next village, Springhill, was nothing more than a collection of grave stones, a memorial and a road sign that pointed to an old building. "Clouds Hill" was the name of the building and immediately Peter reminded the prospectus that he had taken in the airport building. Claire parked on the right side of the road and seemed to wait and see what Connor would say now.  
"Here it is: Clouds Hill! Completed in 1926, it was a sanitarium for tuberculosis patients until it closed 1962. Today it is privately owned and a writer of ghost stories lives with his housekeeper in it. In the recent years there have been rumors of ghost haunting."  
"I would like it, if it's haunted", said Connor and Lindsay poked in his side.  
"Maybe we get something to eat?", asked Claire and Peter immediately agreed to go to the building. Connor shrugged his shoulders. "An old sanatorium, where it is haunted is much more interesting than a retraining! I know our referee and I´m not in the mood to hear the difference between ambulances and rescue vehicles again... Let's go there."  
Claire followed the road sign.  
"It doesn´t look very scary", said Connor to Lindsay, pointing to the building enveloped in darkness. It was still far away, but they would be there soon.  
"If you ask me, it looks like the creepy castle in that Backstreet Boys music video!", said Peter, "What´s missing is a mummy and a vampire!"  
It was quiet in the car. Then Connor looked at Lindsay. "How does he know the Backstreet Boys?", he asked.  
Claire suddenly hit the brakes and with a violent jar the car stopped. Connor and Lindsay crushed against the front seats and Peter was pressed against the windshield. Claire screamed like crazy and tried to become loose her seatbelt. When it finally came up, she jumped out of the car and shouted: "There was something ...!"  
"What was that? Claire, what did you see?", said Connor, who had recovered more or less from the brake and he also left the car.  
"A monster! I must have hit it", she replied and walked around the car. Nowhere blood was to discover and the car hadn´t one single dent.  
"But this is no reason to react this way!", said Peter, shaking his head in disbelieve.  
"I was not prepared", Claire defended herself and at the moment she discovered a white cloth lying in front of the car. She picked it up and noticed the embroidered name "Joan".  
"Maybe it was just a dog or a cat and I´m sure the animal is fine... Let's go on!"  
Connor, Lindsay, Peter and Claire got back in the care and drove the rest of the way to the old building. Claire was clearly nervous and when they finally came to stop in front of the old building, she breathed in relief. The car doors opened and almost immediately chains rustled in the interior. The heavy door opened and when it touched the ground on the other side of an abandoned ditch, they saw a small figure coming toward them...  
An old woman, as it turned out. Her name was Joan and she said she was the housekeeper and would do this since 40 years. She also admitted she had seen their car from afar and allowed to cook a dinner.  
"It is very rare that we meet some new people out here", Joan told and showed them the building´s courtyard and then she told them about the guest rooms, in which they could stay the next night.  
"You have to bring up your bags by yourself. My back is pretty broken..." With a smile Joan presented them three keys.  
Then she left and went to the kitchen. She suggested her guests should bring their cases to the rooms and when Joan left, they went back to the car.  
Connor was the first who opened the trunk and reached for his bag when...

_If they hear Joan scream, go to Chapter 11- If you what that Peter suggests a walk through the dark corn fields, go to Chapter 3 _


	2. Chapter 2

- Chapter 2 -

"Let´s go to the basement!", said Connor bravely. The door to the vaults was not far away, fortunately. Again, this weird noise sounded. It almost sounded like a cry, thought Claire. "My goodness, how scary!", whispered Lindsay and grabbed for Connor´s hand.  
"Peter, can you tell us some ghost stories about this building, too?," asked Claire.  
"What? I can not quite follow", he replied when they walked down the stone stairs. Their footsteps on the stairs sounded strange, almost as if they would fill the silence of the cellar completely.  
"Well, you have told the people stayed away because it is haunted and now I would like to know if there is a reason!"  
"I couldn´t find something in the guidebook, unfortunately..."  
They stood on flat ground. The staircase was so over. "On occasion, we will ask Joan," he said and with his hand he touched the cold wall. It was not only cold but also wet. He thought feverishly if they should leave and because nobody complained, he decided not to be a coward. So he left it.  
On the right a hole in the Wall appeared and as it turned out, it was an access to a further small room.  
"The room goes off to the right... Could be a labyrinth, "said Claire, shining in the empty space.  
"Or just a storage room with back room," said Connor. They went on and now they came to a cross-way. Claire shone in all directions. Darkness and bare walls were everywhere. Peter first turned to the right and the others followed him.  
"Can I have the candle, please?", he asked and Claire gave it to him. Peter stopped in front of a large door. He did not hesitate a moment when he postponed it. The door rattled.  
"Another dark room," whispered Claire and entered. Peter lit with the candle in a huge glass case. Suddenly a skinned man rushed up to him and for a second, a shrill cry echoed through the vaulted cellars of the dark building. Then it was almost silent, only Claire's excited breathing could be heard.  
"Is he ...?", asked Lindsay and Connor nodded.  
"Yes. He´s in this glass box and he´s dead. You don´t need to be scared", he said, pressing her hand affectionately and with the candle Peter lit again in the glass case. A skinned man had stretched up his arms and lifted a leg. In spite of the threads of his limbs, he looked remarkably alive and he gave the impression he would pounce on its prey like a predator.  
"What will we find here?", asked Connor, the light of the candle fell into another glass box and a skinned dog appeared.  
"Let's go back," Claire suggested, "We can look at something else but it´s scary here!"  
Fortunately, they turned around but now they were clueless as before at the cross-way. "We are going in which direction?", she asked and again they heard a cry, which they had heard before on the kitchen floor...

_Nothing to lose? If you want the four should find out more about the cry, jump to Chapter 4; If you want to choose the safe way to go to Chapter 13_


	3. Chapter 3

- Chapter 3 -

...Peter suggested to take a walk. He complained about the last hours he had to sit idly in the car and he could not exercise enough.  
Connor looked at Lindsay and she didn´t seem to mind. So he closed the trunk and together they crossed the bridge over the moat and went to the corn fields. Because it was already evening, it was cool and the wind moved the plants carefully and sometimes it seemed as if the wind would sing a weird song by using the leaves. The field was completely bathed in darkness when the evening sky, full with wispy clouds, shone unusually bright. The air smelled like rain and forest. The ground was muddy. Apparently it had rained in the previous night. They heard a loud rustling. Claire stopped and thought she could hear like someone ran off quickly. Something was out there. Maybe it was Joan's dog, which she had hit by car...  
"Quite dark out here," she said, looking around. She wanted to make sure that only her colleagues were with her.  
"And very cold! Let's go back. Maybe Joan is already done with our food!"  
They were in good mood now. Lindsay tried to tell them she could already smell the potatoes which Joan had cooked and her friends laughed.  
But suddenly they heard a scream. It was a woman and because neither Claire nor Lindsay screamed, only Joan remained...

_Now go to Chapter 11_


	4. Chapter 4

-Chapter 4 -

"Let's go straightforward!", suggested Peter and went ahead.  
"Hey, Peter, wait! How do you know that this is the right way?", asked Connor worried.  
"Instinct!" When he had said this, he vanished from their sight: he had fallen down a small staircase.  
"Is everything okay?", asked Lindsay when he arrived down on the floor and remained stretched out on the ground. He replied everything was still intact.  
"Do you need help? May we come to you?", asked Connor and his friend said no.  
"Connor!", Claire croaked, pointing to a corner. "Connor," she repeated, "Look! There is a human skeleton." She was right. There was a pile of bones, sitting in a corner and pointing to the stairway, on which Peter had fallen down...

_To delay the moment of Horror, decide if the friends go down the stairs in Chapter 6. Let them interpret the skeleton as a warning and go to Chapter 7 _


	5. Chapter 5

- Chapter 5 -

"Joan! Joan! Wake up!", Peter shouted impatiently and struck repeatedly on the old housekeeper´s door. Sleepily she opened the door and looked at them.  
"What's the matter? Is something wrong with your rooms?", she asked.  
"No, Joan!", said Lindsay with pressure, "It´s about the basement! What's down there?"  
"What should be down there? A few old storerooms and a room with old, expensive suits of armor which belonged to the landlord!"  
"Someone had been killed down there?", asked Claire and Joan stepped back in horror.  
"Not that I know of it," Joan threw a nervous glance toward the stairs to the first floor and fastened the robe closer around her.  
"Let´s talk in the dining room," she went ahead and lit some candles that stuck in holders on the walls. In the dining room everybody sat down at the table and Peter told her about the cry. Joan rubbed her forehead.  
"No one has been killed in the basement", she reassured, "It´s possible they are ghosts from the past... Long before my employer moved in here. A nurse committed suicide in the basement. She killed herself because she was in love with the head doctor, who did not return her feelings."  
"Is this one of those?", Claire asked, pointing to the paintings on the walls.  
"The gentleman at the beginning of the gallery!"  
Everybody saw the picture and for the first time they noticed the painted man in a doctor's coat. He had the eyes of a criminal, thought Lindsay. How could anybody fall in love with someone like that?  
It crashed once and suddenly the picture was on the floor. The pin on which it hung, disbanded as well and fell to the cold floor. That was strange! The moment in which spoke about the man, his picture fell off the wall.  
Joan got up. Unusually relaxed, as if nothing had happened. "I don´t know where this cry comes from. Maybe it's just the wind. I bring you some milk so you can sleep better."  
Soon after that, Joan came back with four glasses of milk...

Should they really drink milk, go to Chapter 8; If Lindsay rejects, go to Chapter 12


	6. Chapter 6

- Chapter 6 -

"Are you all right, Peter?", Connor asked loudly, "We come to you!"  
Before he could say anything, his friends were with him and helped him to get up.  
"Are you all right?", Lindsay also wanted to know and he nodded.  
"What was going on up there?"  
"We found a skeleton. It pointed to this direction!"  
"What does that mean?"  
"Nothing, I think," replied Connor.  
"That´s not my opinion," said Claire shocked, "That was a trap!" She lit up the stairs. However, the staircase was not as small as Peter had thought. Under a scratching noise the stairs had turned in a steep wall and the room in which they were, had no exit. This was a deep pit. They discovered much more skeletons. They were small and some were grown up. Some were men and even women.  
"What is this?", asked Peter. He went a step forward and collided with a dry subject. It was agile and Peter pushed it away from him. Surprisingly, the subject came back. Lindsay lit up to the item and gave a short scream when she noticed a suspended, in shrouds wrapped human body.  
She calmed down and repeated Peter´s question: "My goodness, what is this?"  
"A mass grave... and there is no way out!"  
"There must be one! We must call Joan. Maybe she can hear us before we die here of hunger and thirst," said Claire firmly and called for the old housekeeper. But no sooner she had called the housekeeper´s name for the first time she heard how a heavy door closed ...

Now the friends are stuck in a mass grave and waiting untill death frees them from hunger and thirst. Unfortunately, you have not been able to bring them safely through the haunted house, but if you want, you can try right again...


	7. Chapter 7

- Chapter 7 -

"Peter, can you walk?", asked Connor worried and Peter got up slowly.  
"Sure! Wait, I'll be back up!" He dragged himself on the slippery stone stairs and when he reached the top, he also discovered the skeleton.  
"Why he shows in this direction?", he asked.  
"He?"  
"The skull has a gently sloping forehead. This means it was a man! In addition, the shoulder bone is wider than the pelvis... But why he points to the stairs?"  
"No idea. I don´t want to know it!", said Claire with a nervous voice," This skeleton reminds me of a movie I saw once... It´s name was Haunted Hill! This was the first time I've almost cried in horror."  
The silence seemed to scare her.  
"I can´t rate it. I´ve never saw the film", said Connor," I also have enough horror in real life."  
Lindsay smiled.  
"May I ask you a question, Connor?", asked Claire, "I´m asking myself, since we work together."  
"Of course!"  
"Are you actually afraid of something?"  
He had to think for long. "Before darkness in which there is no hope for light..."  
"I am not comfortable with it!", announced Lindsay.  
"I know. We should turn around and ask Joan, what this is about!"

Now go to Chapter 5


	8. Chapter 8

- Chapter 8 -

Joan placed four glasses in front of them and sat back on her chair. All of them except for the housekeeper, reached for the glass of milk and drank it quickly.  
"It tasted strangely sweet," said Connor pretty unimpressed. Suddenly he froze.  
"What was in the milk?", he croaked in pain and his glass fell to the floor where it shattered into a thousand pieces. Peter and Claire fell back in their chairs and Lindsay held out her hand across the table for Connor.  
"Oh no!", she gasped with incredible pain in her chest, "She has poisoned us!"  
"I know!" That was the last thing he could say. Then their hearts failed and Joan looked down silently on their bodies, which now sat lifeless on the table...

_Actually someone was murdered in the old sanitarium once and to cover her master, Joan has poisoned the team. Try your luck again ... _


	9. Chapter 9

-Chapter 9 -

... "What do we do now?", Lindsay said a little perplexed.  
"I suggest we look for Joan!", said Peter. He was worried about going to the basement of the old sanatorium now and he felt his way along the corridor, when he collided with the wooden kitchen door, he opened it.  
"Hello? Is someone there?", he asked uncertainly. Joan turned her head them to and Peter froze. Her hand! Her hand had turned into straw.  
"My goodness, Joan! How did this happen?", asked Lindsay shaken and Joan now turned to them.  
"What are you talking about?", she wanted to know and they breathed out in relieve. Joan's hand had not turned into straw. It was only a yellow washing-up brush she had used to scrub the pots.  
"Is everything all right?", she asked and everybody nodded.  
"Sorry to bother you. We'd better go in our rooms!" With these words they all went to the next floor and everyone was happy when they had finally closed its doors behind them.  
"What the hell is this?", Lindsay wanted to know form Connor in excitement, "This is a haunted house," She sat in a chair and looked around. She remembered back to the thing Claire had obviously hit with the car. And she remembered also that there was neither a victim nor marks on the car.  
"Connor, what if it is really haunted here? The conditions were perfect: An old building in the middle of nowhere, a dark night, a creature which roams through the woods and jumps in front of other people´s car…. Four unsuspecting tourists ...", her voice failed. She couldn´t even think about something like that.  
Late at night, Lindsay was awakened by a renewed cry. She shook Connor from sleep and they both looked out into the long corridor. Peter and Claire´s rooms were on the opposite and it was no big deal to wake them.  
Peter was furious. Not because they had woken him, but because there was no cable television.  
"I heard a cry," said Lindsay and Claire shivered, "It comes from the cellar."  
"We check it?," asked Peter and put a jacket on. Now it was damn cold in the old walls. His friends nodded and this time Claire took a flashlight for everyone out of her "survival bag". Together they crept down the wide main staircase, past Joan's room and they reached the heavy door which lead to the basement ...

_When they go to the basement, you go to Chapter 2; _  
_ If they decide to wake up Joan, go to Chapter 5_


	10. Chapter 10

- Chapter 10 -

Peter nodded in agreement and when he and Claire left the location, Connor first slipped down the laundry chute. "Be careful!", Lindsay said and he smiled.  
"Won´t go too bad!"  
A moment later he had disappeared into the darkness and now Lindsay could only hear his voice. "There is nothing down here. There is a metal door that leads somewhere, but I can´t open it. Perhaps it´s even locked up. If our ghost came down here, it went through the wall."  
"Come up again. I knot together a couple of curtains and get them down to you!"  
"Wait a minute! Something is happening!"  
"What?...", she asked and had to listen carefully to understand him through the sudden noise, "What happens down there?... I come to you!" Lindsay yelled down to Connor and her flashlight shone in the dark pit.  
"No! Don´t do this!", he replied. Too late: Lindsay came to him with a rope of curtains. As soon as she stood at the bottom of the laundry chute, she knew why he didn´t want her to come to him. Sharp metal objects shot down from the ceiling.  
Lindsay screamed and then complete silence reigned in the shaft.  
A little later Peter and Claire came back. "Hey! Connor? Lindsay? Are you down there?", Claire asked loud but she received no answer. "What do we do now? They aren´t down there", she said to Peter, who was a bit perplexed.  
"Let's go and look for booth!"  
Nearly an hour, Peter and Claire searched, but they found neither their friends nor the ghost...

_The End... At least two of the tourists could escape this time. But start again and try if you can also save Connor and Lindsay._


	11. Chapter 11

- Chapter 11 -

Connor arrived at first in the kitchen and opened the door. Peter was close on his heels. "Joan?", he asked, panicked and discovered that the old woman stood on a chair and waving a broom in her hand. With the veil and the skirt around her hips, she looked like a witch from the middle Ages.  
"Joan?", Peter repeated and the old woman looked at him.  
"A mouse! There is a mouse crawling on the stove!", she yelled and Peter came to the stove. When the mouse saw him, it fled through a small hole in the wall, just past a mousetrap.  
Joan left her chair. "We have mice in here as long as I can remember," she said, putting back the broom in a corner.  
Joan asked them to dinner in a large hall, where a huge table was already prepared with plenty of food. In the middle were a few candles, the only light in the room. Connor, Lindsay and Peter and Claire sat down and looked at each other a bit puzzled.  
Now, Claire recalled the scarf, which she had found on the road. She took it out of her jacket pocket and handed it to Joan. "It must be yours. I'm sorry if I hit your dog or cat on the street. I hope it's fine."  
"Actually," said Joan, "I have no dog or cat!"  
A cold shiver ran over Claire's back. How then the cloth came on the road exactly in the second before the car hit something?  
"Are you satisfied with your room, Miss Davisson?", asked Joan again excited as she returned with a large soup bowl from the kitchen and Claire nodded. Then the housekeeper turned to Connor and Lindsay. "What about you? Is everything to your satisfaction?"  
"It's perfect! Thank you, Joan! ", said Lindsay. They ate their dinner quickly and then remained seated for a while in the great hall. Claire looked at the pictures, hanging on the walls.  
"Who are all these men?", she asked, pointing to the gentlemen in the picture frame.  
"These are doctors who have done their duty in Clouds Hill," said Peter. He had read about the treasures of art in the brochure about the House.  
A violent gust of wind swept around the old walls and on the roof they heard an eerie howl. Claire turned around again and again to make sure that no ghost was standing behind her to rattle his chains.  
Finally, she calmed down and ate her desert slowly.  
"I hope we can get back the money for our retraining!" Peter drew in a good mood now onto another topic. His friends were grateful and they agreed. They said good night to Joan and went back to their rooms.  
As always, Claire went ahead and when she went back the long hallway to the wide stone staircase, she stopped. "What?", asked Lindsay. The mere sight of how her colleague was standing before a large, eerie painting and lit the hallway only with a candle (There was no electricity in the old building), drove a shiver down her spine.  
"I heard something ... A noise", she whispered and there was a faint echo.  
"Maybe it was just Joan. There´s swarm of mice in the kitchen", Connor recalled.  
"No," said Claire again, "I think this time it comes out of the basement!"

_ If the friends should look for Joan now, go to Chapter 9, if they'd rather go into the dark basement, go to Chapter 2 _


	12. Chapter 12

- Chapter 12 -

"No, thank you, Joan! We want no milk", Lindsay said kindly. She didn´t want that Joan believed she wouldn´t trust her. She was not comfortable with the thought about drinking milk, served by a completely strange person while they were talking about a murder. Lindsay felt something was wrong with Joan.  
And Connor seemed to feel it, too.  
"Let's go! It was probably the wind... As Joan said." He was the first who got up and the others did the same. They left the dining room and went quickly to their rooms. Lindsay yawned and Peter stretched his arms tired.  
"I hope I can sleep again," Connor said and suddenly Peter stopped. Both crashed.  
"Watch your way!" Peter complained but now he wailed as Claire drove her nails into his arm.  
"What´s wrong?", he asked.  
"Wouldn´t it be possible that a ghost is walking around in the corridor!"  
"From which horror movie did you get that again?", asked Peter.  
"In front of us!"  
In front of a window stood a form of a dog with horns on his head, which was lit in red light, probably by fire. The figure stretched his head to the moon, let out a scream and turned around without taking notice of them. The ghost vanished into the darkness of the old building.  
"Try to catch it!", called Peter and ran to the window. On the opposite side he felt his way along the wall. "There is a laundry chute. Seems to be pretty deep!"  
"We care about it! You go with Claire and pick up my mobile phone out of the car! We need some help."

Will Claire and Peter really leave Connor and Lindsay in Chapter 10 alone;  
or will they stay together in Chapter 14?


	13. Chapter 13

- Chapter 13 -

"I think we should not challenge our luck," said Connor and Lindsay nodded. She was very glad that moment.  
Claire also was relieved when Peter took her hand and pulled her all the way to the car.  
Outside it was still dark and Claire was very relieved that their car was still in one piece in the courtyard of Clouds Hill. Although it was now surrounded by fog, but not even that could dim her joy and relief, when Peter sat behind the steering wheel and started the engine.  
What would become of Joan? She didn´t know and she wouldn´t return to that weird place to find it out...

**_ The happy end _**


	14. Chapter 14

- Chapter 14 -

"No way! No one will be left alone here and if you ask me I´m not interested in these shaft!"  
Even the oh-so-courageous Peter agreed with her this time.  
That made sense. "Let´s recap it: There is an eerie basement, a grumpy housekeeper, a ghost and a mystery landlord who hadn´t shown up until now."  
"And?"  
"I know what Peter wants to say," said Lindsay as she walked towards the grand staircase, "Joan has killed the landlord. It would all fit together: the basement, the ghost... Everything!"  
Connor looked at her perplexed. He stopped and pointed to the foot of the stairs. There were Joan and the old landlord, who was disguised in a black robe. They had been wrong with their assumption: The landlord was not dead.  
Joan had a huge kitchen knife in her hand and bowed to the man. Then she went up the stairs with the knife. "Let's leave!", suggested Connor and all were in agreement. Together, they rushed back to the dark corridor. "What do we do now? Apparently they want to kill us for any reason", Lindsay told.  
Peter stopped and looked out the window. From here he could see the car. "Step aside!," he yelled and opened the window. It was jammed.  
"Do something! Joan is coming!", said Lindsay, Peter moved once firmly on the handle and the window opened. They all climbed out onto a small niche and jumped simultaneously. They hadn´t to jump very deep and they landed safely in the courtyard.  
"We need to call the police", Claire shouted...

_ Go to Chapter 13_


End file.
